"As you may have heard, former and honorary member of The Quakes, Kenny Hill has a new band called The Blackjackits. They have released their debut self titled album and its available now. Why am I telling you this? Has Kenny paid me? No!

I’m telling you because this album is great! I really believe in this album.

If you don’t like songs like “Don’t tell me” “Carlene” “Doors and Keys” “Survival”and “You are my weakness”, then I can’t help you.....

I have a feeling that if you like The Quakes that you are going to like this also.

Kenny has been working on this album for a long time. He played all the instruments himself and produced it. We just played with them in their home town of San Diego and they are great live also.The live band features Kyle Olson on slap bass formerly of the Rezurex and Manny Lutz on drums.

"I've been keeping a close eye on this Californian trio for a long time so it's about bloody time they released this, their debut album. I get the impression from listening to this that they took their time in the studio because they wanted to create something unique. Yeah that's right...I said unique. No easy task in the formulaic world of psychobilly but by Jaysus they've succeeded. Now I've been saying "they" a lot but if truth be known this recording is all the work of front man Kenny Hill...multi instrumentalist and creative genius extraordinaire. As a live act though our Kenny is flanked by Kyle Olson on slap bass and Manny Lutz on drums. There's a definite nod to The Quakes psychobilly/new wave fusion on this album but with that said this is unlike anything I've ever heard before. Paul Roman may have been some kind of Svengali character lurking in the background of Hill's creative thought process but influences aside, as I said, this is unlike anything I've ever heard before, and I love it! It's as though The Blackjackits have created a new sub genre of psychobilly unto themselves. But it's not just psychobilly though, or a sub genre, or anything that should be labelled or pigeon holed (even though the boys themselves have coined the excellent term "American Slapwave"). Why not? It doesn't deserve to be constrained within any one genre. Not any existing one at least. The songs on here deserve to stand alone on their own merits and the listener can decide. I've made up my mind and this album is a work of art. There's substance in abundance to Hill's lyrics and he has crafted some fine melodies throughout. It's quite simply one great song after another to the point where I was thinking to myself "well, surely he can't keep this up"...he does...in spades! Intelligent story telling through the medium of song is what it's all about on this album with Hill obviously drawing on life experiences which draws the listener into what appears to be his own dark, cold, rainy world. This is right up my street. Production values are pristine too. Everything is mixed to perfection and adds to the whole cruel world feel of the album. Lyrically downbeat but musically uplifting. Adam and the Ants created a whole new genre in the 1980s and The Blackjackits have followed suit in the new millennium."

Kenny Hill? Wasn’t he supposed to slap the bass as he did for THE QUAKES? What is he doing with a guitar in his hands on a CD-back-cover? Well, with THE BLACKJACKITS and their self-titled first album, out on Hippicrit Records, Kenny reveals, that he’s a good guitar player, too. For bass duties, Hill found a perfect solution for live shows in Kyle Olson, who played with the REZUREX. On the album, Kenny played all by himself. Everything. And he also has some nice bass-solo spots, for example the fills in “Don’t Tell Me” that are mixed down in a stereo panorama with the effect that you think he’s slapping from different directions. This is just one example for the will to experiment with different recording-techniques and effects. Impression: Great songwriting with a different, yet convenient production. Thumbs up!

The self-description of the band already shows that the music of THE BLACKJACKITS is open for different influences. Besides psychobilly they call themselves slapwave and independent. Well, the wave-content is not that overly powerful. It shows in some melancholic moods, melodies and clean guitar parts and breaks through in several songs like “Empty In Sage” (that sounds as if Kenny, used a bass-guitar here) but it’s more like an extra flavor for music that is clearly based on billy and punkrock. On good old dirty stuff. “Darling Blue” has kind of a THE CLASH impact, the instrumental opening of “Betrayed” calls SOCIAL DISTORTION to my mind. On the other hand THE QUAKES left their traces (“Until Then” is infiltrated by the spirit of “Voice Of America”) as well as the LONG TALL TEXANS (“Transistor”, that sounds slightly like a mix of “Get Back, Wetback” and the SOFT CELL-version of “Tainted Love”, or the alluring “Carlene�����). Maybe it is also the snare-sound, that makes me think of the TEXANS in their “Saturnalia”-era, but I guess it’s also the knack for really catchy melodies.

Seems it never rains in Southern California? Forget it! Songs like "You Are My Weakness“ will make some teardrops for or at least evoke some dark clouds... Lyrics seem to be personal on the whole album. Broken hearts, broken dreams, pain and misery that only makes a lost soul stronger in the end. Hopefully. After 15 Tracks the question remains: "Where Will I Go?“ I keep my fingers crossed, that "The Blackjackits“ will go straight to the hearts of the underground community. By the way, it seems as if the relation to THE QUAKES is really good. As far as I know, Paul Roman recommended the album. In the liner notes he gets special thanks... Before I forget: The CD comes as a digipack with all lyrics. It's available from

Here is a video from our Valentine's Day weekender tour (Los Angeles - Phoenix). Thanks to everyone who came out to see us, it's always great hanging out with old friends and meeting new ones. We appreciate your support, and we're really excited for the good things coming up this year.